Politburo

Names

The term politburo in English comes from the Russian politbyuro (политбюро), itself an abbreviation of politicheskoye byuro (политическое бюро 'political bureau'). The Spanish term Politburó is directly loaned from Russian, as is the German Politbüro. Chinese uses a calque (), from which the Vietnamese (Bộ Chính trị 部政治), and Korean (정치국, 政治局, Jeongchiguk) terms derive.

History

The first politburo was created in Russia by the Bolshevik Party in 1917 during the Russian Revolution that occurred during that year. The first Politburo had seven members: Vladimir Lenin, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, Grigori Sokolnikov, and Andrei Bubnov.

During the 20th century, politburos were established in most Communist states. They included the politburos of the USSR, East Germany, Afghanistan, and Czechoslovakia. Today, there are five countries that have a politburo system: China, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam, and Cuba.

Marxist–Leninist states

In Marxist–Leninist states, the communist party is the vanguard of the people, therefore the legitimate body to lead the state. The party selects officials to serve in its politburo, which decides party policy. As a one-party state, party policy invariably becomes national policy.

Each Party Congress elects a Central Committee which, in turn, elects the members of the politburo, secretariat, and a general secretary. This process is termed democratic centralism. In theory, the politburo is answerable to the Central Committee. In practice, all the authority lies with the politburo, and its decisions de facto have the force of law.

Trotskyist parties

In Trotskyist parties, the Politburo is a bureau of the Central Committee tasked with making day-to-day political decisions, which must later be ratified by the Central Committee. Its members are chosen by the Central Committee, who appoints it. The post of General Secretary carries far less weight in this model.

References

References

1. "Politburo | Soviet Leadership & Decision-Making | Britannica".
2. (21 March 2018). "Politburo".
3. "USSR: Communist Party: Politburo". Archontology.org.
4. (2013-04-24). "Politburo (Soviet political body) – Encyclopædia Britannica".
5. Dmitri Volkogonov, ''Lenin. A New Biography'', translated and edited by Harold Shukman (New York: The Free Press, 1994), p. 185.
6. (2014-05-29). "A List of Current Communist Countries". Geography.about.com.